10 Things You Didn't Know About Karlie Kloss

I caught up with Karlie Kloss in Chicago this week to celebrate the re-launch of Victoria's Secret Heavenly perfume. The 21-year-old supermodel was just as down-to-earth, sweet, and gorgeous as I'd been told, but I did learn a few new things about her that I never expected…

She's Come Full Circle. Kloss was especially excited to be home in the Midwest and back in the city where her career started for the first time in six years. She grew up in St. Louis and would come into Chicago as a kid to go shopping, and later when she was auditioning for her first modeling gigs. "When I first started modeling I went to some castings door-to-door here in Chicago before I ever even went to New York," she says. "And by castings I mean some obscure location for some bridal magazine. It was the most random beginning point, but years later launching this fragrance here is pretty cool to have it come full circle and feel like it's all amounted to something."

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She Wasn't Always in the Know. Karl who? Though Kloss is chummy with just about everyone in the fashion industry these days, when she first got called for a casting at Chanel, she had no idea who Karl Lagerfeld was.

She Finally Made It. Kloss started her career in high fashion at the age of 15, walking an endless number of shows for every top designer and appearing in countless magazine spreads and advertisements before Victoria's Secret ever came knocking. But it wasn't until the VS catalog featuring her lingerie-clad bod showed up in her hometown friends' mailboxes that they really thought she made it. This is what makes being an Angel so special to Kloss. While not everyone may know the fashion world, Victoria's Secret is something every American girl grew up with and can relate to.

She Loves Having a Voice. "Between all the high fashion designers, photographers, and editors I've got to work with in the past seven years, it's been unbelievable," she says. "But Victoria's Secret is a whole other ballgame. It's more than being just a face—it's a voice, a person, an individual. It's more than just walking down the runway."

She's Got Big Shoes to Fill. Kloss is the first new face of Heavenly perfume in five years. Before her it was Gisele, a supermodel she looks up to for successfully bridging the not-so-easy gap between high and mainstream fashion. Kloss knows she has a lot to live up to and is completely flattered by this honor. "It's one of the biggest compliments I've ever received."

She's Got a Secret. Though she is the face of Victoria's Secret Heavenly, she admits that her favorite perfume is VS's discontinued Secret 88 because her older sister used to wear it, and she always wanted to do everything like her.

She's Got Some Nerve. Kloss still gets nervous before walking in big shows. But from all the years she did ballet she did growing up, she feeds off the pumping adrenaline and being onstage.

She Wants Your Job. "Obama has got me beat," she says with a laugh when asked about her insanely busy schedule. "I've been around the world and back in the last month. I enjoy it, but I would love to trade jobs with you for a day and have a desk job: chill, work on my computer, and actually sit and think."

She's in a Hurry. To save time, she brushes her teeth in the shower. She thinks it's a weird habit, but when I told her I do the same, she said it made her feel better.

She's Got Big Aspirations. "I would love to go back to school and study business," she says. "My dad's a doctor and I have always been fascinated by medicine. I wanted to be a pediatrician and work with kids. So, lots of future plans, hopefully one day…"